2013.04.10 - Reclaiming the Past
Central Park received a bit of a surprise today, a bearded maniac with wings on his feet, wearing nothing more than dark green scaled briefs and a golden belt. The man accosted several tourists screaming that the Monkeys needed to tell him what they've done with Atlantis. Apparently some tourist told the madman that the Museum of Natural History had a The Lost Treasures of Atlantis exhibit. He threw one of them in the reservoir and marched into the doors of the Museum, where he is now. This madman is Namor, the Avenging Son of Atlantis, former hero of the Golden Age. His memories had been lost for nearly four decades and now, thanks to the return of one of his dearest friends and allies: Captain America, he remembers who he is. Unfortunately, his homeland Atlantis is not to be found and he blames the surface world for it's destruction, no matter if that is true or not. As he strides into the Museum, his lack of apparel causing quite a stir. One teenager announcing aloud as she sees the half-naked Atlantean "I am so moving to Metropolis the -second- I graduate!!" Namor just shook his head in disgust saying "Filthy Monkeys" under his breath. As he looks at the exhibit he thinks, |This is unspeakable blasphemy! Atlantis sacked and her treasures put on display like a harlot's glass jewels.| Where as the bearded man in the scaly speedo may be a bit time lost in one way, there's someone else in the museum who's time lost in a different way. This other person is a girl, a teenaged girl who is in the museum. How she ended up here is a long, and somewhat complex story. But it basically boils down to the simple fact that this girl, who goes by the name Hope, is trying to find out just what sort of world she's in now. Thus as part of her 'research' she ended up at the museum. In the Atlantis exhibit to be precise. Thus as Namor rants and raves, the girl just glances about, instinctively trying to see what's available, who else is here, and how they react to this... Of course, that's when the dude in the really obvious outfit stormed inside, and the girl raises her eyebrow at him. She doesn't overhear what he says, however, not being quite that close. Instead, she thinks to herself, |Really, I start the weekend with a train wreck, and now some costume shows up? Hope this one isn't one of the destructive types.| Then she spots Hope, and Hope looks kind of familiar to her. Oh yeah, didn't Jocelyn chase her through the subway awhile back? Yeah. This was shaping up to be a lovely day at the museum already. Emma Frost was out on a trip with one of her prize students, Julian Keller. And one of their stops for the day trip was the museum. They were exploring the brain exhibit, as Emma was explaining to Julian her own unique view on the subject. It was her favorite, after all. For the outing she was wearing a well-fitted strapless dress with diamond detailing. She smiled as she marveled at the display, it was a glorious exhibit. For the moment her mind was distracted, and hadn't heard the museum's newest visitor. Julian Keller shakes his head, walking next to his bombshell of a teacher. Clad in a tieless Gucci suit and prada loafers, comfort in all things.. he's avoiding the crowd like they're not even there. "No I get that Ms. Frost.. but the display they have outlines the physical components of the brain. It doesn't touch on what the brain can do, altered senses, improving one sense to compensate for the loss of another. Relearning how to do things when it suffers damage to another place. Not to mention telepathy and telekinetics." He says this open and conversational volumes. He couldn give a rats hind end who hears him. Ricardo has been walking around the museum most of the morning, looking closely at exhibits, reading every little piece of information, talking into the inline microphone attached to his MP3 player's headphones in a low, muttering voice. At about the same time Namor comes in one side of the exhibit Ricardo walks in the other, spots the strangely dressed (or undressed) man and adds another little mutter to the rest he's uttered throught his time here, but this one is a bit louder, "Oh crap... This is probably going to get messy..." Who is _not_ in the Museum of Natural History? Steve Rogers. He's twenty blocks away standing in front of the Russian Tea Room. Hands in pockets, he ignores the dirty look from the doorman as the All-American blond looks through the window into the elegant interior. Steve knows he's not dressed for the restaurant, nor does he have a reservation. Nor is he planning on flashing any credentials. Not today. Turning away, Steve hitches his valise strap higher on his shoulder and walks into Central Park South. It's a nice day, and he feels like drawing in Strawberry Fields. Still, it would be nice if a certain Russian Avenger was back from whatever deep cover assignment is keeping her away. Ah, well. At least for the moment there's no crisis to interrupt his Saturday. Namor looked around at the treasures, his disgust worn blatantly on his face, he couldn't imagine that this may be all that was left of his people. That it was possible that the great civilization of Atlantis would forever be reduced to a few curiosities shown to the dry monkeys that ruled a minority of the planet. He raged in his mind, trying to figure out exactly what to do about this. He wanted to destroy the building, kill them all. Every. Last. One. And he probably would have tried that but then something caught his eye... He walked to a display case and looked.... it was his clothing, his regal clothing, the blue scaled vest and pants, his bracers. He found it remarkable that the surface remembered him so, that they would show off his regalia so prominently. He was honored. Until he read the plaque underneath, "Clothing of Unknown Origin. Assumed to be common dress of the Atlantean People." He sneered at it, they didn't remember him at all. The brunette girl had lied! Another deception of a race of monkeys that barely deserved life. He cried out and smashed the glass the outfit was held behind. Alarms started to sound, "You all disgust me!" he shouted at the top of his voice. Oh yeah. Things are definitely going south. Worse, as she glances about, Hope just happens to notice Jocelyn, and realizes that the other girl looks familiar, but since she can't place just where she may know her from... Well... What can she do? It's almost too bad she doesn't know exactly who's here, and how close they are. Not as she instead starts to inch towards what looks like a fire alarm. Because if Namor actually does get violent, the 'innocent bystander's' in the building will have to be warned. Somehow. Sort of. Emma Frost laughed as Julian brought up good points. She checked her cell phone for the time as she responded, "Oh, not quite yet. Perhaps soon our importance in society will be a common topic then and. . ." Emma trails off as she looks to the side. Something is happening. Well today was going to be an interesting field trip after all. "I think we are needed elsewhere Julian. Tell me, have you ever heard of Atlantis?" Julian Keller freezes hearing the booming voice. A reflex of sorts, he turns with one hand up in the -stop- sign, palm out. For most.. it's just a gesture. But with his eyes blazing green, his hand following suit.. a bubble of green hued energy snaps into place over the pair, shielding them from... well... anything really. He couldn't care less who knows he's a mutant. He's not about to get jumped without at least basic defences up. "It's a myth isn't it? Some island city from antiquity, pissed off what passed for gods way back when and they sank it. Or destroyed it in a flood.. depending on the version you read." Yes, try not to faint, he's read a book or two. When Ricardo sees the girl edging towards the alarms he strides by her and says, "Good idea that. This one's one of the violent ones." Then keeps going toward Namor. He stands out of arms reach and then some but close enough so that Namor can hear him without any need for yelling. "Hey. How're you doing today. Didn't I see you at the harbor a few weeks back? Called yourself the Prince of Atlantis? I'm sure if you talked with the curators and you can prove you're the Prince they'd be happy to return anything of yours they have here. No real need to get destructive." Ricardo's clearly expecting exactly that, violence. It shows in the way he's standing, slightly sideways to Namor, ready to move out of the way if he becomes the ire of the Prince. Steve places his easel in the perfect spot, and lays out the colored charcoals just so. "Is my radio too loud?" asks a woman with her watercolors set up nearby." "Not at all," Steve replies with that Robert Redford smile. As he is about to make the first stroke the music is interrupted with the news bulletin of fire alarms sounding and 'a half naked burglar' at the Museum of Natural History. Grabbing up the valise, Steve runs through the park toward the museum. He sprints faster than one would expect. The easel falls over in the grass. Charcoals scatter like pieces of rainbow and the paper flaps abandoned in the wind. The glass was smashed, and Namor took the bracers and put them back on. The were fitted to him perfectly... a alloy made of platinum, palladium and gold. The three metals that were the building blocks of the Atlantean cities. They showed the strength of kings and emperors, they were not the garments of the common people. He looked over his shoulder to Ricardo, "Well then, at least one of the Dry knows who I am still. Though I've grown tired of surface dweller lies: I saw no one like you when I remembered who I was. There was a green woman, a blonde woman, a red-head woman and annoying man." Namor turned to face Ricardo, "And while I agree that you are very annoying to me at this moment, he looked nothing like you." He looked up and down Ricardo's form, obviously sizing him up, "You take a stance of war and expect me to what? Run? Stand down? Surrender?" With a quick laugh Namor turned to one of the exhibits and said, "I am Namor, the Avenging Son, I do not run or surrender." Looking down he saw something that was much more interesting than the talking monkey he was speaking with. He thought |The Horn of Proteus.... the Trumpet of Glaucus.| He looked at Ricardo again and said, "You stupid monkeys do not even know what you have here do you?" And as soon as 'Ricardo' says that, the fire alarm is pulled. That is before Hope starts to reach out, without actually realizing that she's even doing it. Searching for a mutant. Because unless Ricardo has some sort of power he's not letting on, or 'help' arrives soon, Namor will more than likely have to be stopped. Thus on a subconscious level, she starts to prepare herself power wise. Emma Frost rolled her eyes as she ran towards the area. The natural history museum was quite large, and they were not in the same exhibit. With some speed they could make it there in prompt timing. She glanced towards Julian as she ran, "You are proud of being a mutant yet you don't know the first mutant Namor? He's the /son/ of Atlantis. Really you must pay attention to our own history. And they were able to make it in a short time. Emma peered towards Namor, "And he's barely y aged a day. Not a fan of the beard, however." Julian Keller doesn't run. He looks damn good as is, why ruin it with sweat ruining his Gucci? Instead, he levitates himself and flies' feet to the grown alongside Emma. He'd levitate her, but he got a mental bitchslap last time he levitated her without her asking for it. You can say that for him.. he's a quick learner. "Like I'm going to know the width and depth of the history of everyone with an X-gene... everyone different. If you want to split hairs like that, technically black people, asians, middle eastern and every other color are mutants of the white man. Assuming white people where the genesis. " He retorts. He knows more or less just how much leash he's got with Emma. Just how far he can push before she slaps him down. He touches down next to his mentor, eyes blazing emerald green, but there is no body field.. not yet anyway, it's only a thought away. Ricardo smiles a bit at Namor, "And you made tried to punch the annoying man, and if I don't misremember there were /two/ big, green women, not one. I'm not trying to be aggressive, Prince of Atlantis, I'm just trying to make sure I can get out of the way if you get violent like you did at the harbor. But I have a question: Isn't diplomacy as much the domain of royalty as war, Your Highness? It seems to me this might not be the most diplomatic way to regain your belongings..." Super-Soldier enhanced strength forces open an all-but forgotten door in an alley off one of the twenty-five buildingds that make up the museum. In a storage room Steve shrugs out of his street clothes and pulls up Captain America's cowl. The red, white and blue rings of Shield of Freedom emerge from the valise and slide on to his left arm. Captain America pounds through the museum yelling "Everyone evacuate in an orderly fashion immediately!" He shoulders his way through the crowd and into the Atlantean exhibit. He slides to a halt as his eyes fall on the 'burglar'. "Of course," the Sentinel of Liberty says half to himnself, "I heard from the others, but I should have guessed." And as the fire alarm goes off, the sprinklers do to, more worried that a priceless artifact could be destroyed over the idea that a man strengthened by water may be standing it is halls. As the water coats him he looks up at the ceiling and laughs, "Water, the Dry would attack ME with water." Without looking he smashed the case to his side, the one that contained the artifact he was interested in. He looked to the man telling people to evacuate...but that could not be the man he knew.... could it. He looked back at Ricardo, "I will be honest with you, monkey. I have no idea what your ramblings are supposed to mean. But if you want a fight... I will give you a fight." And Captain America is an unknown, more or less, to one person here. Because well... Finding out about this time and place is why Hope is here, and all that. Thus even as the super soldier tells people to leave, pulling her attention away from Julian and Emma before she can even look at them as they arrive, something happens. Namely, without a warning, the redheaded girl starts to change. At first it's a subtle change. As if she's wincing and hearing something that's threatening to do something to her head. But then, just as quickly her actual form starts to change. It starts to sparkle. In fact it's almost like after just a few moments she looks like some form of living diamond statue as she /finally/ starts to walk towards Namor without even saying anything to him. Emma Frost holds up her hand towards Julian, "I have no time to explain how ridiculous that statement is. Time to focus, darling. Today's class is; try to stop Namor, the Sub-Mariner. Be respectful, but be strong. Go, be amazing." Then she notices Captain America and the others. And Hope. . .turns to diamond? The exact way her body does. Oh that's just invasive. She places a hand on the side of her temple to enter Namor's mind, perhaps if he was able to calm down. . . Julian Keller hears the words he wanted to hear most from his mentor, and his telekinetic field raises around him. Powerful by most definitions, perhaps not as much by Namors. The sprinklers systems water falls down, split in midair to fall to either side of Julian, leaving him dry as a bone as of yet. "Hey.." He starts, intending to assault the man with verbal abuse first. But.. Emma wants respectful. Fine. He can do respectful.. even while he's whoopin some ass. "I highly suggest you drop the jewelry and run back to whatever retro fishtank you crawled out of." He says, motioning toward the front door. Ricardo starts stepping back away from Namor, hands held up chest high, palms out, "Nope. Definitely don't want to fight... Unless you'd like to wrestle. I'm a pretty good wrestler..." His words don't quite match up to his actions because he's still slowly stepping backward. When Captain American makes his entrance Ricardo lets out a big sigh, "Captain! Can you talk Mr. Prince of Atlantis here down before this all ends in tears? He's either trying to steal from the museum or he's decided this stuff was his in the first place..." As he turns partially to look at Cap he realize .oO(Wait, there's more superpeople here. Bonus!) And then Julian starts talking, "That's /not/ respectful!" "I'm working on it," Cap tells the backpedaling youth. He points a red-gloved finger at Julian andf is about to say something when the diamond-girl starts walking toward Namor. " Excuse me miss," he says changing his mind and waving at Hope, "Let's not give anyone a fight unless we absolutely have to, ok?" Then Captain America turns toward the Sub-Mariner. "Namor, if that is really you, listen to me. I am who you think I am. We stood together, with the Torch and Toro, and with many more surface people against great evil and against many wonderous things. It is brave new world now, that has many more such wonders in it." Cap smirks and pints a thumb at Julian. "You called Bucky a monkey too, when he told you something similar. You decided some of us were worth calling friends. Make that decision again. Atlantis may be gone - or perhaps it is waiting for us to find it. Either way, show the 'monkeys' that you can not so easily bait a king." Namor noticed the diamond girl approaching him and smiles, "So the surface world sends me its warrior." He gestured to Richardo and then looked at Hope, "I'm so glad that the surface dwel-" Then Captain America spoke. Namor looked at him, the costume wasn't entire correct but the voice was right. He turned to Captain America and said, "Toro... Jim.... Bucky.... so many names. All remembered. I remember them all of them.," He looked over to the Captain America, ignoring the diamond girl, the two mutants and the shapeshifter, "Can it truly be you? I remember you, I remember how much you hated being viewed as the perfect human. You called me a super-man, and we save so many...." He almost walked towards Steve but stopped himself, "Prove you are not a imposter!" There's a glance at Cap as he speaks up, but Hope just continues to remain silent, and a diamond. To be honest, she wasn't looking for a fight. Or to really provoke Namor. And if The Star Spangled Sentinel can pull this off without it breaking down into violence... Apparently "Be respectful" was a very vague sentence for Julian. She knew the boy lacked in tact but that was ridiculous. She was thankful that Captain America was on the scene, being as inspiring as ever. Perhaps he and Namor's history would be enough. But so far, it didn't seem certain. Emma's mind reached out towards Namor's, guiding him to the Captain's words. She tried to calm him, to focus on their history with one another. Heroes, comraderie, friendship. These are the words she tried to reinforce to his mind. If Namor willed it, he could easily destroy this building along with everything and everyone inside. And there were far too many artifacts alone that hide a priceless value, not including the valuable individuals. Emma was to the side, with her eyes closed and only one goal in mind. Calmness. Everything else can be sorted out later. Julian Keller was about to follow up with a second comment, but then Cap America shows up. Even Julian has respect for the Captain. His glow remains, but he goes silent, ready and able to reinforce Cap if it comes to blows. If this Namor guy is that badass.. he's suddenly not entirely sure he can handle him in a straight up fight. He can however.. provide emergency evacuation for everyone present of he has to. Ricardoow that Namor is distracted Ricardo takes the chance to get completely away, coming to stop next to the diamond girl. His eyes keep switching back and forth between Cptain American and Namor paying careful attention to what might be coming next. Captain America shrugs, strangely nonchalant as if the situation weren't balanced on a knife-edge. He puts his arms through the straps of the of the shield to wear it on his back in a show of nonagression. "Would this prove it?" he asks. "Or this?" Cap launches into a cartwheel between Namor and Hope, and then a round-off handspring. The whole manuever is really to get people's attention off one another. Landing near the smashed display carse, he gingerly bends doen to pick up the blue and gold vest from among the shards of glass and stands up again. "No," Captain America says shaking his head, "I don't think that will prove it. Anyone can put on a fake Captain America costume, or do some acrobatics," he continues. He gently brushes off the vest, shaking the wrinkles out of it and fixing the creases. "Spouting World War II history, wouldn't prove it either. You're right - I called you a super-man, because I never thought I was anything but a man. There was one person who called you a few other things. Someone you spoke about to very few." Captain America holds out the vest the way a valet holds out a suit coat. His eyes meet Namor's. "Would an impostor remember Betty Dean?" Namor looked at this Captain America, "Betty... I miss her... and I do not know why. I remember her, just like I remember you. Old memories... very old memories. How are you even here? Why is Atlantis gone. Steven... my only friend on the surface... why is this happening? And as Namor continues to calm down, Hope slowly starts to change again. The diamond form fades away, while the redheaded girl herself starts to slowly back up, and away. After all, if things are in hand, she might want to try and slip out while she still can. After all, the fewer questions she has to answer, the better. While focused, Emma stares at this girl named Hope. Who was she? How was she able to steal her power? The girl was a damned redhead, meaning the universe favored her, at least as far as this universe of Marvels was to be concerned. The girl can escape this exact scene, but she was now in Emma's notice. Otherwise, she kept to her goal, to reinforce the Captain's ideas. With any luck it would be enough. But Emma never considered herself particularly lucky. And a Summers.. musn't forget that.. the holy trinity of Marveldom, redhead, female, Summers. But with Cap defusing the volatile Atlantean, Julian's might is apparently no longer needed. A bit of broken glass and some water damage were very minor things compared to what might have happened in a drop down drag out brawl. And for some reason.. the cocky telekinetic wasn't eager to go toe to toe with Namor. Call it self preservation. He steps back a few paces, in line with Emma, ready to pull her out just in case. One never knows. Ricardo remains off to the side and quiet. But for some strange reason he chooses this time to pull out his wallet, which is rather thicker than normal, to start looking through his pictures. After flipping through a few of the little plastic sleeves he stops at one, nods with satisfaction then goes back to watching the drama in front of him, wallet held in on hand with a finger marking the picture he chose. "I don't know, Namor," answers Captain America, "I was just as confused when I found myself in this time. There were more miracles, yes, but there was still a place for me. I was still needed. So are you. There are others who feel outacast, alone but fight for right as we fought. Come with me. Let me help you the way I was helped." "Cap shakes the vest, offering it to the Atlantean. "Take your vestment, and take your place as the Sub-Mariner once more." Namor looked at Ricardo, at Hope, at Emma, at Jullian. He could sense through his training that none of them should be trusted, that they view him as an enemy. They were all enemies, and yet he looked at Steve; at Captain America and asked, "Are the Nazis gone... is all we fought for achieved? I remember so little." As suddenly as it was offered he threw his hand away, "No! Look at all of this, you and your Rosevellet and your Churchil prommised me that Atlantis would be safe! And it is -GONE- only the remeneants... only the detreious of a civilization long gone! Steven... it is gone! And it must be avenged!. Namor sneered at Captain America and said, "I'm sorry my friend... but... IMPERIOUS REX!" With those words Namor charged towards a man he considered his friend. And it figures that /NOW/ Namor goes on the attack. And Hope... No, she doesn't spring to his defense. She doesn't try to stop either of them. Instead... She just continues to try and slink away?!? Emma Frost has continued in her position. Yes it was support, but her role in this scene didn't matter, it was all about the end result. She focused entirely on those three words, they had to have meant something to him, he was confused and lost, that much was certain. But hopefully she might help with his confusion. With any luck he wouldn't really notice her. Which was the complete opposite of what she would like but it was time to focus on ideals, not any sort of carnal needs. He was Namor, who could destroy everything. Julian Keller narrows his eyes, suddenly blazing green. His power roused around him, the water from the sprinkler system rising from the ground in droplets and weird levitating orbs of fluid. Namor is fast fast.. impossibly fast.. but a thought to calculate, and a thought to project, even as Namor starts forward. Every ounce of the young mutants considerable energy is focused into a single violent thrust, a green telekinetic punch aimed to take the charging man/fish guy out the front doors and into the streets outside. Less valuable things out there. Assuming he hits the man hard enough to eject him. Or at all.. Ricardo sighs as if he'd seen this coming the whole time. He makes sure he's out of the way and focuses his attention on the picture he'd selected a while ago. After a few seconds his body goes all wibbly=wobbly and turns it what could best be described as a human sized amoeba. And almost immediately after that in the same spot Ricardo was standing is an exact copy of The Thing, blue Fantastic Four shorts and all. Sticking his wallet down the front of his shorts he prepares to help Captain American as needed. Sometimes the 'appeal to your better nature' trick doesn't work. The thing is, to make it work when it has a shot, you have to not be faking it. So when Namor lunges at Captain America, he not braced for it. Barring any intervention, the two ex-Invaders collide with Cap winding up on the bottom. As they slide across the floor skating on the shield the Avenger is wearing, Cap shoves at Namor's chest with both hands trying to draw his knees up and get his feet planted. "How can you avenge it if we don't know it's gone!? Think, man! Don't make me do this the hard way!" And then he hisses in Namor's ear, "And stop calling me Steven for Heaven's sake!" Namor's fist was held up in rage, he was seriously considering caving Captain America's head in for the audacity to challenge his own mind, he knew Atlantis was gone and he was here among her picked corpse, gFine, Captain!h he hisses out, gIf you prefer me call you that, then its fitting enough for me to call you that before I-h He was cut off from finishing that remark as Jullian's telekinetic attack blindsided him and smashed him right off Captain America and instead right into the man who was impersonating the Thing with a huge amount of force. As he rose back to his hands and knees from smashing into the massive rock man he gritted his teeth in anger. He looked into the direction of the blow and shouted, gWHO DARES!h Internally, Emma's telepathic attempts to pacify him have been shut out entirely as his rage and the complexity of his own thoughts have now pushed her out without him even realizing she was doing anything. Namor's fist was held up in rage, he was seriously considering caving Captain America's head in for the audacity to challenge his own mind, he knew Atlantis was gone and he was here among her picked corpse, "Fine, Captain!" he hisses out, "If you prefer me call you that, then its fitting enough for me to call you that before I-" He was cut off from finishing that remark as Jullian's telekinetic attack blindsided him and smashed him right off Captain America and instead right into the man who was impersonating the Thing with a huge amount of force. As he rose back to his hands and knees from smashing into the massive rock man he gritted his teeth in anger. He looked into the direction of the blow and shouted, "WHO DARES!" Internally, Emma's telepathic attempts to pacify him have been shut out entirely as his rage and the complexity of his own thoughts have now pushed her out without him even realizing she was doing anything. And just when it felt like things were actually starting to go well, thus Hope could quietly slip out of here... Things had to fall apart. Damn it. This isn't her fight. By all rights she shouldn't do anything. But then again with how things have been going, as of late, and the people she's run into... Yeah, she's not sure what to do. But she knows she can't hesitate. That she looks around to grab what ever weapon she can, even if its on display as a museum piece, while waiting just long enough for someone to give her an opening. Well, that lasted long. Normally a person must be well trained in defense against telepathy, but this man was pure rage. Well no wonder why. The scene has become a flurry of fists. She touches the tips of her fingers to her temples and closes her eyes as she concentrates, sure she could break down those barriers. Not happening. The sensation was almost like trying to swim against the current. She would have to think of a new plan. When Namor looks in the direction the blow came from he'll see Julian, glowing fiercly, his eyes and hands ablaze with emerald energy. "Sir.. I'll ask you once. Stand down. I'll even say please." He tells the Atlantean King. His attack didn't work quite as well as he hoped.. but better than he expected. And he's still got a few tricks up his very expensive sleeves. Gabriel-Thing sees Namor flying his way and decides to try and defuse the situation again. Bracing for impact, as the Atlantean hits him G-Thing goes for a bear-hug, trying to pin Namor's arms to his side and maybe give Captain American another chance to talk sense into the man. Rolling to his feet, Captain America slips out of the straps to the Shield of Freedom and puts it back on his left arm. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to see a super-powered teenager," he says to Julian, "If you're going to help, and can supply some heat, I'd suggest it." "Thing, be careful, Namor's not in his right mind!" Cap warns, not having seen Gabriel transform and thus unaware this isn't really Ben Grimm." "Namor! Snap out of it! You've seen more of the years after the war than I did! You know darn well Winston and Churchill are long gone! Come to your senses before I have to beat some into you!" Cap prepares to throw the right cross that knovcked out Hitler, should Namor leap at him again. The Natural Museum, is a wondrous thing for people especially those that appreciate academia. Reed Richards has a few security camera feeds that aren't spied on, but when distress calls happen the Baxter Building does wind up in the know. Seeing some Aquaman looking Spock-guy in green scaley speedos talking to Captain America worries Ben Reilly, who's glancing up at the feed from time to time. When more faces become added to the mix Ben is out the door wearing the black costume. Seeing the security feed in real time gives him the info on what is happening. "Apparent strategy is to calm down Spock. Got it," he says to himself and keeps swinging. Slipping into the museum Ben crawls on the walls blending into the darkness. When the shot shows himself two orbs launch from his web shooters. These orbs are directed at the sea guy's legs. Hopefully the man would be too distracted by everyone else to notice the impacting webbing until AFTER it strikes cocooning his legs in webbing. Namor struggled against the Rock Man, who seemed nearly as strong as he was. But Namor would not give up. First he spit towards Julian and shouted "I will not surrender! I am the Imperious Rex! And whatever demons you surface dwellers now hold under your thrall I will not allow Atlantis to be treated this way!" That last sentence obviously a reference to the G-Thing that was holding him. He sneered at Captain America, "gAnd what does it matter if they are dead and gone, so were you! You returned and suddenly I remembered! Suddenly my dreams were nightmares taunting me of what I had lost. What you surface dwellers had taken from me!" It almost seemed like tears are forming around his eyes, g And just as it seemed he was ready to burst out of G-Thing's grip the two balls of impact webbing hit his legs webbing them together and to the ground, "And that- that proves it!"h He scanned quickly and saw the Scarlet Spider hiding in the darkness, eyes that could see in the darkest corners of the ocean meant mere shadows were not match for him, "Aye! The demons of the surface world mean to destroy the Last Scion of Atlantis!" Yes, Hope is listening as she tries to improvise. Considering this exhibit is a public one, weapons may not be as common as she'd like. But she can still improvise. Just not with what's in here. At least not for the moment. Hence why the mutant girl tries to slip out of this hall for now. So she can hopefully find a specific kind of something. She's just going to need a little bit to do this. In theory. Hopefully. Then again this fight may be over before that can be done. Which may be a good thing as well. Emma Frost looked up towards the new arrival. Apparently the museum was the place to be that day. It was the perfect day for it, but that was besides the point. Emma took a break from trying to pry into his mind and help organize the chaos in the room. She reaches out to all of the minds available to telepathy at the moment, Captain America, G-Thing, Julian, and Scarlet Spider, One of the priceless displays was starting to get knocked over, and she quickly turned to diamond to catch it, then back to normal. "I'll have to increase my yearly donation at this rate." Julian Keller is getting used to speaking through Emma's gifts, and he simply holds his thoughts in his mind for a moment and allows her to broadcast them. <> I've got a few more tricks other than brute force.. but I Julian Keller is getting used to speaking through Emma's gifts, and he simply holds his thoughts in his mind for a moment and allows her to broadcast them. <> G-Thing tilts his head abit to the side when he hears Emma's voice in his head then thinks back, loudly, <> Tightening his grip a bit around the Atlantean's arms and chest he starts moving to wards the exit as fast as he possibly can while carrying an angry, superpowered man in his arms, "Prince Namor, all we really want to do it resolve this peacefully. If you would calm donw I could let you go." "I think that ship has sailed," Cap says out loud looking at the smashed display case. "But by all means," he continues looking at 'the Thing' and not bothering to try to guess who in the room is in his head, "if you have a plan that's more cerebral than talking to the man and offering him his property, be my guest." "I'm all fine with wanting to take the angry spock away from the priceless artifacts," Ben thinks in his head over the neural network. "But do we really want to put the resident Vulcan closer to water? Don't all atlatean's control fish, water, have skin as hard as barnacles. Just saying...if you want to make the fight harder," his head goes back to look at several faces. "We may want to take him out, physically," his final words over the network. As the G-Thing carried him towards the exit Namor strained, this was the chance he was looking for, they seemed distracted now. More worried about damaging the property than dealing with him. G-Things carrying him out was proof of that, "Silly talking monkeys! The Captain really is the best of you isn't he." He strained his muscles, muscles that on poor days could still bend titanium in its grip surge breaking the webbing from his feet and, with a headbutt backwards towards G-Thing and a thrust from his biceps he breaks the bear hug. "I am honestly surprised he's willing to let you even try that. Poor tactics Captain." He now flew into the air, the wings on his ankles flapping at rapid speed to hold his weight, He hovered just out of the grip of G-Thing, gThis is not the world I knew, but I am still the Avenging Son of Atlantis, the most powerful man born to this planet. I will not be stopped.h Now if someone like Emma were to check to see what Hope is up to, since she was in here not too long ago, they'd see her trying to find something. A door to a break room where employees may have their stuff stored. What ever. What is she looking for chemicals. Preferably flammable ones. After all, the guy in the red white and blue, who ever he is, did ask for fire. Then again, as the mutant girl bursts into an exhibit featuring WWII era military equipment. Most notably weapons. In fact, as she moves over to grab one that looks impressive, one that has a back pack aspect, she oofs at its heft as she slides it on, and even hears something moving around. "You gotta be kidding me. A museum, and they left it in the open and with a partial tank?" What did she find is something that she rushes back towards where the fight is happening, holding it, and the redheaded girl even shouts "Watch OUT!" That is before she points in the direction of 'Avenger of Atlantis' pulls the trigger, and there's a *FWOOSH!* as a huge jet of flames comes bursting out of the end of a fricken /Flame Thrower/. Emma Frost was literally surprised at the flamethrower, and turns back to diamond once more. She hadn't gotten a chance to probe this young girl's mind. Clearly she had a cunning mind, even if she was yet another "power stealer" running about. Always handy to have around, if a bitinvasive in it's way. Even so, Emma jumped aside from the flames. "Well. A lot of these /are/ reproductions, after all." Julian Keller watches the gout of flame, nearly incinerate his teacher, and his eyes narrow. "Fuck this." He mutters, though Emma will likely catch the 'broadcast'. Julian erupts with emerald power, a green meteor given birth inside the museum. Charging Namor, he shouts out "RELEASE HIM" He shouts at Gabe, twin Tendrils of green TK energy reaching out for Namor, intending to take him up high, and drop him. OK... TK Kid really seems to want in on the action and since G-Thing's face kinda hurts after having been headbutted in the nose and Namor is already loose anyway, G-Thing steps back and lets Jullian do his thing. "Anyone have an action plan other than trying to par-broil him..." and muttered, "Although that's not a bad one right now, at least get him dry..." Ducking behind his shield as the flames and energy erupt, Captain America briefly wonders why he should find it more incredible that there is a flame throwing easily accessible in the Museum of Natural History than that there would be a museum patron willing to go get it. Perhaps this sort of chaos is what has driven Namor over the edge? "Now why didn't *I* think of that?". Sarcasm apparently sounds exactly the same now as it did in 1945. Whirling about deep in thought Ben's mind starts to think of starfish. Said starish starts to dry out and break apart on from lack of oxygen...well hydrogen. Tire him out. If Spock is like a fish then the fire has caused him to loose some air then keep it up. Mock him, get him riled up, wear him out like a Foreman got worn out by Ali. Like so. "I bet you're not even a real king...probably just some commoner that thinks himself of a king when he's really a nothing," the teen idly comments in an obnoxious tone. Whirling about deep in thought Ben's mind starts to think of starfish. Said starish starts to dry out and break apart on from lack of oxygen...well hydrogen. {Tire him out. If Spock is like a fish then the fire has caused him to loose some air then keep it up. Mock him, get him riled up, wear him out like a Foreman got worn out by Ali. Like so.} "I bet you're not even a real king...probably just some commoner that thinks himself of a king when he's really a nothing," the teen idly comments in an obnoxious tone. As the flames subsided and the tank of the flame emptied Namor stood there, the scraggly hair and beard were now gone, burned off in the flames. He now looked more properly like the Sub-Mariner. As the charging Julian came at him, Namor reacted faster than most humans could hope to and grabbed the child by the throat. The flames did succeed in dehydrating and compromising Namor (a bit), but unfortunately for Julian, not enough. Namor held him by the throat, still hovering over the air. As he squeezed on Julian's throat his hand felt like a permanent form of static electricity, as if Namor was a Van de Graaff generator. He didn't say a word, he just smiled because he knew this meant he had won. Well, that helped...? Sorta? As the tank on the flame thrower is emptied, Hope pulls the trigger an extra time or two, as her eyes go wide. That is before she just tries to shrug off the fuel tank as she rushes towards Namor. Especially as she watches what he's doing to Julian. Of course with G-Thing and everyone else she may not get an opening, but if she does, the mutant girl tries to swing the empty fuel tank, as well as the thrower itself at Namor. Even if she knows that odds are, considering what everyone else can apparently do here, that might not do much. That is if she even has the room to do that without hitting someone else by accident. Emma Frost ignores everything that's going on around her. Clearly, it wasn't making a dent anyway, only in the displays around them. She makes a few steps closer to Namor, closer to Julian, her prized yet troublesome student. Emma taught him to be proud, and confident. But sometimes that isn't enough. And this was clearly one of those times. She stared up at Namor focusing her mind on the violent sea that was his mind, perhaps she would break through whatever wall of rage he had put up for himself. She focused on all of the history she read about the Invaders, all of the good they accomplished. Every documentary of Jews, Soldiers, and anyone they directly saved in WWII by the astounding Invaders. Then, she focuses on everything she remembered about Atlantis. The shining underwater city disappeared from public consciousness 39 years ago. And more recently, as of this year a new hero claiming himself to be "King of Atlantis." She hadn't intended to add this one last thought, but added it at the last moment Unable to 'hear' that though of self sacrifice, Julian can't do much but choke around the steel vise grip around his throat. His eyes blaze bright with his signature energies, and his hands glow brightly, and he grips Namors thumb, and his thumb alone, giving his all to force the digit out, break that thing off off if he has to, but he's fading quickly, unable to breath. Seven tons of raw force forcing his thumb open.. or trying to.. G-Thing sees Julian get trapped in Namor's grip and decides the more important thing at the moment is to get the young man free before he's killed. Jumping as high as he can he grabs one of Namor's ankles and one of Julian's ankles to begin the first step of the process, getting then down to where he can grab other parts of Namor. "Third time's the charm," Ben muses to himself inwardly, whether or not it goes over the network is the question, and he flings out his hand sending another orb of impact webbing to Namor. The target is Namor's face, head area, so Julia can avoid being suffocated to death by the obsessed king. Whether it hits and what it hits is now complicated as the orange rock man tries administering his own plan. Namor let go of the young man, and looked at Emma. He said, I will give up the boy, I have received a bet- He was hit in the face by the Scarlet Spider's webbing. He yanked off that webbing easily and said... the he was in G-Thing's grip; he glared at both of them and said, I have received a better offer, He then moved forward quickly, he grabbed four things... Trumpet of Glaucus, his vestments as Captain America pointed out, and a trident...and Emma Frost Worry not surface dwellers, you will see me soon. His eyes looked back to Hope, she was the most impressive: original and cunning. She was one to watch. He moved so fast to collect what he though was his that it could even leave the thought of this, 'Why did he wait to do this?' By the time anyone could react to him, he was gone, out the roof of all things. Who knows where he took his new found treasures? Category:Log